Saturday, October 18, 2008

Reasons to Learn Spanish: Chris Paul Speaks it

Though my quest for finding a slew of wacky "Hornets in Spain" stories was seemingly in vain (as there were seemingly no stories about the Hornets to begin with) I always knew that I could rely on Spain's largest newspaper to gather at least one notable bit of news: Chris Paul speaks Spanish.

And, so no one butchers the quote on Babelfish (I'm looking at you "Otis"), here's the translation:

"This year we want to win the ring," Paul let loose in correct castellano (NOTE: "castellano" is Spain's dialect of Spanish) "I learned the language in high school and in college."

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The article goes on to say that CP3 went back to talking in English because he was "more comfortable expressing himself in his own language" (Aren't we all?). Good news for Hornets fans is the supreme confidence that this team has shown since training camp started Stateside. Paul argued the merits of the Hornets as a championship contendor, citing last season's success and the team's off-season acquisitions, but admitted the Hornets need to play better defense to win a title.

Byron Scott said that, this season, he intends on limiting CP3's, and possibly other key starters', minutes in the opening months of the season to keep them fresh for the playoffs, much in the way Gregg Popovich does annually in San Antonio. Chris Paul is then quoted as saying he feels "phenomenal after playing and winning in the Olympics."

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David West is noted as deferring praise towards and crediting Paul with his success.

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And then West says something that caught me as a mis-translation (either on my or El Pais' part): "If I may, I'd say that [Paul] could be like my father. He always knows exactly where and when to give me the ball. He has a form of mimickery."

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Just take in that whole sentence and marvel at what can happen when a conversation is translated to a different language and then back again.